Germany warned France's new President Emmanuel Macron today to hold off on his push for radical EU reforms, saying that far-reaching action requiring treaty changes was currently "not realistic".
	Macron has said he favours setting up a separate budget for the eurozone, the 19 countries that use the common currency, and also proposes giving the bloc its own parliament and finance minister.
	But European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker had pointed out that "a major change with a eurozone finance minister and a budget would require a change in the EU's main treaty," said Friederike von Tiesenhausen, finance ministry spokeswoman.
	Amending the treaty would require approval from all 28 countries within the bloc, "which is at the moment not realistic," she said.
	Foreign Ministry spokesman Martin Schaefer also said: "There is agreement within the government that, given the difficult situations we in Europe are confronted with, a plan with treaty changes is not a good idea."
	While ...

Germany says opposes EU reforms requiring treaty changes

PTI Automatic

Russia had nothing to do with a massive global cyberattack, President Vladimir Putin said today, calling for urgent consultations on countering the hackers.
	Hundreds of thousands of computers in more than 150 countries have been hit by the ransomware attack, which has been described as the largest-ever of its kind.
	The attack began Friday and struck banks, hospitals and government agencies among a variety of other targets, exploiting known vulnerabilities in older Microsoft computer operating systems.
	"As for the source of these threats, Microsoft's leadership stated this directly, they said the source of the virus was the special services of the United States," Putin said.
	Putin was referring to a weekend blog post by Microsoft president Brad Smith stating that the US National Security Agency had developed the code being used in the attack.
	"This completely doesn't concern Russia," Putin added on the sidelines of an international summit in Beijing.
	The US has accused Russia in .

Putin says Russia has nothing to do with cyberattack

A group of refugees who sheltered fugitive whistleblower Edward Snowden in Hong Kong are facing deportation after the city's authorities rejected their bid for protection, their lawyer said today.
	The impoverished Philippine and Sri Lankan refugees helped the former National Security Agency contractor evade authorities in 2013 by hiding him in their cramped homes after he initiated one of the largest data leaks in US history.
	They have spent years hoping the government would recognise their cases and save them from being sent back to their home countries, where they say they were persecuted.
	However, immigration authorities rejected their protection claims today saying there were "no substantial grounds" for believing they would be at risk if they went home.
	"The decisions are completely unreasonable," their lawyer Robert Tibbo told reporters, saying the procedures had been "manifestly unfair" towards his clients.
	The refugees have said previously they were specifically asked ...

Hong Kong 'Snowden refugees' face deportation: lawyer

Chinese President Xi Jinping urged world leaders to reject protectionism today at a summit positioning Beijing as a champion of globalisation, as some countries raised concerns over his trade ambitions.
	Xi addressed almost 30 leaders on the second day of a forum on his new Silk Road plan, an infrastructure project Beijing hopes will revive ancient trade routes from Asia to Europe and Africa.
	"Globalisation is encountering some headwinds," Xi told leaders from Spain to Turkey, Russia and Pakistan at a convention centre near the Great Wall on the outskirts of Beijing.
	"We need to seek results through greater openness and cooperation, avoid fragmentation, refrain from setting inhibitive thresholds for cooperation or pursuing exclusive arrangements, and reject protectionism."
	The Chinese leader is using the international gathering to promote his signature foreign policy project, the One Belt, One Road initiative.
	At the opening of the meeting on Sunday, Xi pledged to pump an extra ...

China's Xi decries protectionism, touts Silk Road

An air strike by the US-led coalition killed 23 civilians today in a Syrian town held by the Islamic State group on the border with Iraq, a monitor said.
	The deaths came after 12 women were killed in a strike by the US-led coalition fighting IS in the east of Syria's Raqa province on Sunday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Right said.
	The strike hit the town of Albu Kamal in the early hours of the morning, Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman said.
	"They hit a residential area at 3:00 am while people were sleeping, causing the high toll," he said.
	He added that IS was using some apartments in the area targeted as local headquarters.
	The deaths came after 12 women were killed in a US-led coalition strike yesterday.
	The Observatory said that strike hit vehicles carrying farmworkers home from fields in the afternoon.
	IS has lost swathes of the territory it once held in Raqa province, though it still holds Raqa city and some areas to the east.
	A US-backed alliance of Kurdish ...

US-led coalition strike kills 23 in Syria: monitor

"Hundreds of thousands" of Chinese computers at nearly 30,000 institutions including government agencies have been hit by the global ransomware attack, a leading Chinese security-software provider has said, though the Asian impact has otherwise been relatively muted.
	The enterprise-security division of Qihoo 360, one of China's leading suppliers of anti-virus software, said 29,372 institutions ranging from government offices to universities, ATMs and hospitals had been "infected" by the outbreak as of late Saturday.
	In a statement dated Sunday, Qihoo 360 said the ransomware had spread particularly quickly through higher education, affecting more than 4,000 Chinese universities and research institutions.
	It gave few details on the extent of any damage, however, and China's government has said little about the situation.
	Governments, companies and computer experts around the world braced today for a possible worsening of the global cyberattack that has hit more than 150 countries as 

Ransomware hits 'hundreds of thousands' of China PCs: firm

The United Nations said today that USD 1.4 billion (1.3 billion euros) was needed this year alone to help the nearly two million people who have fled war and famine in South Sudan.
	The UNHCR refugee agency and the World Food Programme presented an updated response plan to the crisis in appealing for nearly double the USD 781 million they had previously said they needed.
	"Bitter conflict and deteriorating humanitarian conditions in South Sudan are driving people from their homes in record numbers," UNHCR chief Filippo Grandi said in a statement.
	South Sudan, the world's youngest nation, fell into a brutal civil war in December 2013, just two years after it spilt from the north.
	Tens of thousands of people have been killed in the country since then, with some 1.8 million forced to flee the country, including about one million children, to seek refuge in Uganda, Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya, the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Central African Republic.
	Another two million have been ..

$1.4 bn needed to help S Sudanese refugees this year: UN

South Africa's highest court was to decide today whether lawmakers can cast secret ballots in a no-confidence vote in President Jacob Zuma who is facing growing criticism within the ruling ANC.
	Several hundred protesters marched to the Constitutional Court in Johannesburg in the latest demonstrations against Zuma, who has been implicated in a series of corruption scandals.
	Opposition parties have lobbied for a secret ballot and called for African National Congress (ANC) lawmakers to "vote with their conscience".
	The ANC holds a large majority in parliament and Zuma has survived similar votes in the past, which have not been secret.
	"ANC members of parliament will have to choose between what is best for themselves and what is best for South Africa," Mmusi Maimane, leader of the main opposition Democratic Alliance party, told protesters.
	Zuma's sacking of respected finance minister Pravin Gordhan in March has fanned years of public anger over government corruption scandals, record .

S Africa court to rule on Zuma confidence vote

The world's biggest oil producers Russia and Saudi Arabia today called for extending an output reduction deal ahead of an OPEC meeting later this month.
	"To underscore the determination of oil producers to ensure market stability, predictability and sustainable development -- the joint actions of the participating producers should be extended by 9 months, through March 31, 2018," the countries said in a joint statement published by Russia's energy ministry.
	The statement added that Russian energy minister Alexander Novak and his Saudi counterpart Khalid Al-Falih, who met in Beijing today, had "agreed to do whatever it takes to achieve the desired goal of stabilising the market and reducing commercial oil inventories to their 5-year average level."
	The ministers will consult with other oil-producing countries with "the goal of reaching full consensus on the 9- month extension" they are seeking, the statement said.
	Russian President Vladimir Putin said today in Beijing he was ...

Russia, Saudi call for oil output deal extension

Nigeria today said it had stepped up health surveillance and vigilance at its entry ports after an Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo killed at least three people.
	"The minister has directed the director of health services at the ports to ensure that public health workers are put on the alert," health ministry spokeswoman Boade Akinola told AFP.
	"If you go to the ports now, you will see health workers on the ground. They have been deployed to screen people coming into Nigeria for symptoms of haemorrhagic fevers."
	On Friday, the World Health Organization said Ebola had killed three in DR Congo, in the first outbreak of the deadly virus since the 2014 crisis that left 11,300 people dead in west Africa.
	Nigeria had 19 confirmed cases of Ebola and seven deaths during the epidemic. The authorities were widely praised for their quick response in implementing emergency measures.
	There are no direct flights with DR Congo but Nigeria's health minister Isaac Adewole has ...

Nigeria vigilant after DR Congo Ebola deaths: ministry

Boko Haram jihadists have killed six farmers who were working on their land near the northeast Nigerian city of Maiduguri, civilian militia members and locals said today.
	Gunmen on motorcycles attacked the group who were preparing their fields for the rainy season outside Amrawa village, 16 kilometres from the Borno state capital, on Saturday.
	"The gunmen attacked the farmers with machetes as they were clearing their farms that have been taken over by weeds in preparation for the rains which start in a few days," said Ibrahim Liman, a civilian militia member.
	"They seized six farmers and slaughtered them while the rest fled."
	Liman's account was supported by Masida Bunu and Rahis Musa, who live in the village. Some residents raised the alarm and the militia pursued the attackers to the nearby village of Sojori.
	"The vigilantes fought the terrorists and killed four while the rest fled," said Liman.
	At least 20,000 people have been killed and more than 2.6 million made homeless in 

Boko Haram kills six farmers in NE Nigeria

Germany today slammed Turkey's refusal to allow its lawmakers to visit a NATO base near Syria and warned it could move its troops elsewhere.
	Berlin described as "unacceptable" Ankara's latest ban on a visit to the Incirlik base in southern Turkey, used by international coalition fighting the Islamic State group.
	Germany has more than 200 troops stationed there, flying Tornado surveillance missions over Syria and refuelling flights for partner nations battling IS jihadists.
	Germany will now "look into alternative locations" for its military personnel, said Chancellor Angela Merkel's top spokesman Steffen Seibert.
	Jordan offered "the best conditions", a defence ministry spokesman added, saying it had also looked at Kuwait and Cyprus since Turkey first denied such visits to German MPs for several months last year.
	The defence ministry spokesman cautioned however that any move would involve shifting hundreds of containers of materiel and would take several months.
	Turkey rejected ...

Germany slams Turkey's refusal to let MPs visit NATO base

A US-led coalition air strike today killed 23 civilians in a Syrian town held by the Islamic State group on the border with Iraq, a monitor said.
	The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the strike on the town of Albu Kamal hit around 3:00 am local time.
	The monitor said some of those killed in the strike were civilians displaced from other areas controlled by IS, including Syria's Deir Ezzor and Raqa provinces, and neighbouring Iraq.
	The deaths came after another strike by the US-led coalition in Raqa province yesterday that killed 12 women, the monitor said.

US-led strike on IS-held Syria town kills 23 civilians:monitor

An Indonesian court today increased the jail term of an Australian woman convicted of killing a policeman on the resort island of Bali to five years after prosecutors appealed her original sentence.
	Sara Connor, 46, was handed a four-year jail term in March after being found guilty along with her British DJ boyfriend of killing officer Wayan Sudarsa, who was beaten to death on a popular beach on the island.
	The Briton, 34-year-old David Taylor, was jailed for six years.
	Traffic policeman Sudarsa's blood-soaked body was found in August covered with dozens of wounds on his neck, chest and head.
	Taylor, whose stage name is DJ Nutzo, admitted getting into a fight with Sudarsa on the beach after accusing the officer of stealing Connor's handbag. Mother of two Connor had maintained her innocence but judges found her guilty, ruling she had held the victim down during the fight.
	Prosecutors appealed the four-year sentence for Connor, which was lower than the eight years they had ...

Australian's sentence for Bali cop killing raised to 5 years

China's factories and workshops saw their output slow sharply in April, data showed today, as the world's second-largest economy grapples with tighter credit and weaker demand.
	The data comes as China hosts an international summit showcasing its Silk Road project which it hopes will revive ancient trading routes and breathe life into its sputtering economy.
	Industrial production rose 6.5 per cent from a year ago, the National Bureau of Statistics said, compared with 7.6 percent in March and analyst estimates of 7 percent.
	Other figures also disappointed. April retail sales rose 10.7 per cent year-on-year, below the previous month's reading and market forecasts of 10.8 per cent.
	Fixed-asset investment excluding rural areas rose 8.9 per cent in the first four months of the year, compared with 9.2 per cent in the January to March period.
	"All the data sends the same message: The economy slowed down meaningfully in April," Larry Hu, head of China economics at Macquarie Securities in .

China's economy slows in April as credit tightens

Authorities in Sanaa, which is controlled by Shiite rebels, have declared a state of emergency in the Yemeni capital, where a deadly outbreak of cholera has spread rapidly.
	The Huthi-run health ministry said it was "unable to contain this disaster" and appealed for international humanitarian assistance to deal with the crisis, in a statement released overnight.
	Yemen is witnessing a devastating war between the Iranian-backed Huthis and the Saudi-supported government, and less than half of the country's health facilities are functioning two years into the conflict.
	The International Committee of the Red Cross said on Sunday the cholera outbreak has killed 115 people and left 8,500 ill between April 27 and Saturday.
	This is the second outbreak of cholera in less than a year in Yemen, the Arab world's poorest country.
	The World Health Organization now classifies Yemen as one of the worst humanitarian emergencies in the world alongside Syria, South Sudan, Nigeria and Iraq.

Yemen declares state of emergency over cholera outbreak

Russian President Vladimir Putin said today that North Korea's latest missile test was "dangerous", but he warned that Pyongyang was being intimidated and called for a peaceful solution to regional tensions.
	"We are categorically against the expansion of the club of nuclear powers," Putin told reporters after an international forum in Beijing.
	"We consider (the missile test) counter-productive, harmful and dangerous," Putin said.
	But, he added: "We must stop intimidating North Korea and find a peaceful solution to this problem."
	North Korea celebrated Sunday's launch of what appeared to be its longest-range ballistic missile yet tested in a bid to bring the US mainland within reach, saying it was capable of carrying a "heavy nuclear warhead".
	The missile was launched on an unusually high trajectory, with KCNA saying it flew to an altitude of 2,111.5 kilometres and travelled 787 kilometres before coming down in the Sea of Japan (East Sea).
	That suggests a range of 4,500 ...

Putin says intimidation of North Korea must end

Russian President Vladimir Putin said today that North Korea's latest missile test was "dangerous", but he warned that Pyongyang was being intimidated and called for a peaceful solution to regional tensions.
	"We are categorically against the expansion of the club of nuclear powers," Putin told reporters after an international forum in Beijing, adding however that "we must stop intimidating North Korea".

Putin says N Korea missile test 'dangerous'

Japan's defence ministry sent planes and helicopters to search for a military aircraft with four crew members aboard that went missing earlier today.
	The LR-2 reconnaissance plane disappeared from radar near Hakodate airport on the northern island of Hokkaido while flying to pick up a patient in Hakodate at the request of Hokkaido's governor, a ministry spokesman said.
	"We have sent four helicopters and two airplanes to search for the missing plane," the spokesman said.
	"So far we have not found any clues," he said, adding that the weather was poor, especially in the mountains.
	The propeller aircraft was scheduled to take the patient from hospital in Hakodate to Sapporo, Hokkaido's capital city, for special medical treatment.

Japanese military plane with four crew missing

Militants killed two police today in Haditha in a rare attack inside a town west of Baghdad that tribesmen and security forces successfully defended against repeated jihadist assaults, officials said.
	When the Islamic State group seized swathes of territory in Anbar and elsewhere in Iraq, Haditha was one of the largest Sunni Arab population centres in the country not to fall to the jihadists.
	Khalid Salman, the head of the Haditha council, said three militants infiltrated the town and clashed with security forces and tribesmen, killing two police.
	The attackers were later surrounded in a house and killed, Salman said.
	A police first lieutenant gave the same death toll but said the two police were killed when one of the attackers blew himself up.
	The officer put the total number of militants involved at four, and said the remainder were killed by security forces.
	IS seized large areas north and west of Baghdad in 2014, but Iraqi forces backed by US-led air strikes have since ...

Militants kill two Iraqi police in anti-IS stronghold

A North Korean diplomat said today the election victory by left-leaning South Korean President Moon Jae-In reflected the people's "longing" for change.
	The comments by ambassador to Beijing Ji Jae-Ryong were the first official response by the North to Moon's triumph last week, except for a four-paragraph dispatch by the official Korean Central News Agency two days after the vote.
	Moon - who favours engagement with Pyongyang to curb its nuclear ambitions -- won overwhelmingly after his conservative predecessor Park Geun-Hye was ousted over a massive corruption scandal.
	"The South Korean people are longing for new politics, new society and new life and the election was a reflection of this popular sentiment," Ji told reporters in Beijing.
	Park, who advocated a hard line with the North, was arrested in March and is in jail awaiting trial on multiple charges.
	"Anyone who pursues selfish interests by following a foreign power and keeping their distance from their compatriots cannot ...

AFP

AFP

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